UPDATE NO 444 12 March 2021

Take Your Place – the future leaders programme for the South East

Take Your Place: Free Leadership Training – The CPD opportunities we have developed with the Staff College are free at the point of access. SESLIP have purchased a subscription which includes free places on the following courses:

• Women in Leadership 24 and 25 March 2021
• Black and Asian Leaders 23 and 24 June 2021 

The first Take Your Place workshop went ahead on 1 March. It was well attended with seventeen people representing twelve of our nineteen authorities. Feedback included that attendees thought the workshop was ‘inspiring’ and ‘exactly what future leaders need’. Thanks to Alison and Lucy for devising and delivering the session. If you are interested in supporting the programme as it develops please contact Mark Evans (details below).

• Women in Leadership 24 and 25 March

The Women in Leadership Programme is designed to create a safe space for women to connect, share their experiences and learn how to strive and thrive in their own work places. There are some key issues that affects every woman along the path of her career. The Programme helps to address some of the issues that affect all females by providing a forum that considers the unique challenges women encounter

• Black and Asian Leaders 23 and 24 June 

This programme aims to: Provide strategies to help participants overcome barriers and enhance their skills to be able to thrive as Black global majority leaders; Renew self and group confidence, which is often depleted by every day racism; Enable participants to learn about and try out for themselves different leadership approaches and understand how these relate to their own values and principles; Ensure participants develop their own personal learning plan in order to help them progress in their careers.

The courses are being run virtually (via Zoom). We have booked two cohorts of both workshops. To book places please contact Mark Evans (details below)

DfE Project Phase 2

Our DfE funded commissioning project (phase 2) asked for the views and priorities of the participating local authorities earlier this year, and we have now moved to engaging with potential providers. On Tuesday 9 March (through West Sussex) a market survey was launched open to all providers. We are trying to encourage maximum participation from independent providers; the survey is introduced by Lucy Butler (DCS, West Sussex) who said,

“Help us to make commissioning and procurement better. We’d like you to give us your perspective on these challenges, with a view to shaping a new way of working together with providers, as partners. The questions that follow have been designed to collect your insights, anonymously if you prefer, although no individual respondent will be identified in reporting of the combined feedback.”

Survey publication: 9 March 2021
Online workshop event and one-to-ones: 16 and 23 March 2021, 10.00 – 11.30, 14.00- 16.30

The survey is open until 26 March; registration for the events and one-to-ones is available towards the end of the questionnaire, so please ask providers to go to the market survey and answer the questions in order to access the opportunity to meet our project team. The outcome of this survey will inform the development of the proposals for a formal stage of co-production later in the project.

Both ICHA and NAFP are sending the link to their members and so we are hoping for a good response from which to build proposals going forward

The invitation has also been advertised on the SE Shared Services e-Sourcing Portal. Enter “CWSCC – 032323” in the search box to bring up the notice.

More information from Rosemary Perry (contact details below).

Commissioners’ Network for the SE

Thank you to colleagues from East Sussex, Medway, Oxfordshire, Reading (BFfC), Surrey, and Windsor and Maidenhead (AfC) who have signed up to the Commissioners’ Network. which is working alongside the DfE Phase 2 project, but is planned to have a life of its own in the future.

If you would like more information, please contact Isabelle Gregory (details below), who is convening the group, and preparing to launch webpages and contact lists on this website later this month. 

Quality Assurance Network News

The Quality Assurance Network met on Wednesday 10 March. 

Chris Owen (convenor of the regional education network) joined the group for a helpful discussion about Children Missing Education and quality assurance activity in this area.

The group shared their responses to the ministerial letter about the increase in infant injuries.

Next steps: Feedback is sought about the opportunity for QA thematic challenge to be added to SESLIP thematic challenge offer (thanks to our colleagues in the South West for sharing their work).  

Each authority is asked to nominate a representative for a new Child Protection Chairs Network which will be a subgroup of the QA Network Nominations to Diane Williamson (contact details below) by 18 March.

Future dates for Network meetings

Lead Members Group:  10.00am Friday 19 March 2021, “Child Poverty”, presented by Lisa Faulkner. More information from Alison Michalska (contact details below)

Data Benchmarking: Tuesday 13 July 2021. More information from Alastair Lee (contact details below)

Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board: Tuesday 20 April 2021. More information from Rebecca Eligon (contact details below)

AD Education: Friday 7 May 2021 – 10.30am. More information from Chris Owen (contact details below)

AD Safeguarding: Friday 11 June 2021. More information from Mark Evans (contact details below)

QA Network: More information from Diane Williamson (contact details below)

Fostering Network: 10.30am Thursday 12 April 2021. More information from Rebecca Eligon (contact details below)

SEND SE19: Covid conversation #17 -24 March 2021 12:30-13:45 (LAs). More information from Tracey Maytas (contact details below)

SESLIP Regional Improvement Plan for 2020-2021 Published

26 February 2020: SESLIP has published its provisional Regional Improvement Plan for 2021-22.

The plan remains provisional until DfE funding for 2021-22 is confirmed. 

Comments are invited: please respond to the Programme Manager, Richard Tyndall (details below)

Subject to funding, new projects are proposed for Post-Covid Organisation and Practice; and for a regional response to the DfE Review of Care. There is provision to support 9 regional networks; to continue the work on Children Missing Education, commissioning and sufficiency planning to increase stability and permanence for Looked After Children, Data to Insight; as well as the peer challenge arrangements for DCSs and Lead Members.

The provisional plan is here.   

Evidence summary: COVID-19 – children, young people and education settings

DfE has published Evidence summary: COVID-19 – children, young people and education settings

The paper should be viewed in context. It is the best assessment of the evidence at the time of writing (February 2021).

The picture is developing rapidly and the Department for Education regularly reviews data, analysis, evidence and advice from a number of different sources.

A DfE paper summarising evidence in relation to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, particularly around children, young people and education settings, drawing on sources such as:

• the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE)
• Public Health England
• the Office for National Statistics
• the Joint Biosecurity Centre
• other relevant sources

The full report is here